


we're not out of the tunnel yet (though i bet you there's an end)

by Nervouslaughter508



Series: mandalorian fics [4]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Din Djarin Needs a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Post-Canon, Protective Cara Dune, Touch-Starved Din Djarin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28680123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nervouslaughter508/pseuds/Nervouslaughter508
Summary: so stay with me/ hold my hand/ there's no need/ to be braveand all the quiet nights you bear/ seal them up with careno one needs to know they're there/ for i will hold them for you"Cara," Din says, from her doorway. She looks away from her scroll and immediately looks away. "It's okay." He says, setting his helmet on the bunk. "I just wanted to ask if you'd wash my hair."Cara (obviously) gapes.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Cara Dune, Din Djarin/Cara Dune
Series: mandalorian fics [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119692
Comments: 25
Kudos: 143





	we're not out of the tunnel yet (though i bet you there's an end)

**Author's Note:**

> inspo: [this](https://64.media.tumblr.com/d19d444086e85df82d2d358527dc329e/tumblr_p1ut55HOJr1tc1dolo1_500.png), [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODPra5VxNLI) and [this.](https://cthulhowo.tumblr.com/post/631887730818826240/haruki-murakami-1q84-anthony-van-dyck-william) This is somewhat related to my fic [the art of detatching one's heart,](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28257741) but you can read it without!

"Cara," Din says, from her doorway. She looks away from her scroll and immediately looks away. "It's okay." He says, setting his helmet on the bunk. "I just wanted to ask if you'd wash my hair." 

Cara (obviously) gapes. Of course she will, there's no point in even asking (it’s Din). But it seems so out of character. _His adopted son has been taken from his care, that's bound to do something to him,_ Cara reminds himself. 

But it’s Din. 

So she eyes his matted hair and pressed down curls and nods, setting the scroll down and following him to the vacant washroom. He switches on the golden light. 

“It’s uh, been a while,” Din admits. “Should I kneel over?” 

Cara chokes. “What?” 

He points to the tub. “The tub.” 

“Oh. Right. You can’t just say stuff like that Mando. Give a girl ideas.” She teases. 

His face (uncovered, unhelmeted, Cara still can’t get used to it) flushes. “Get your head out of the gutter.” 

He kneels over the edge of the tub. 

Cara grabs the nozzle, pointing it away from his head and she tests the temperature. 

“This okay?” She asks, scooping the hair forward leaving his neck exposed and letting the water wash over his hair. 

“A little hotter, please.” he asks. Cara sits next to his head and obliges, then begins to rinse his hair thoroughly. 

He winces a bit when she brushes his air over the bump, and Cara quick apologizes, feeling clumsy and dumb. She can see the goosebumps rise over his skin.

He replies with he’s had worse, and Cara grips the nozzle with a surge of protectiveness. She knows, she’s aware of it, but he’s been so vulnerable lately, all she wants to do is hunt down anyone who's ever hurt him, assuming they’re still. Well. Alive. 

She applies the soap carefully, in a way that's almost tender for her, big hands scrunching the soap into his hair. He shivers at that, and she has the brief notion that she’s the first person in years, decades even, to do this. It’s so intimate and close, and she can’t imagine going so long without it so long. She wonders if he thought he had to, giving up the kid. 

She rinses out the soap, and without saying anything, she reaches on the ground next to him, dries his hair with care, and when the towel is pulled away, she’s starstruck at the doe eyes and curly hair, his thin smile. 

“Thank you.” Din says, and releases a breath. “It’s been a long time.” 

She privately agrees. “Anytime Mando.” She’s still sitting up on the tub, and he’s sitting against the tub, drops of water falling from the hair curling up in the back and making little clicking sounds on the tub. 

His eyes crinkle. “I might take you up on that.” He’s joking, but she’s not. 

“I mean it. I can- I will take care of you as long as you want me to. As long as you need me.” Cara says assuredly. It’s a promise. It hangs in the air. 

Din looks genuinely surprised. “I have a lot of scars.” he says awkwardly. “A lot of baggage.” Like it makes him appealing. (It doesn’t. It’s _Din.)_

Cara slides down next to him. “I don’t care about what you think makes you unwanted. I’d hold them for you. I said what I meant.”

Din gestures pointlessly. “It’ll be difficult. Maybe even pointless work.” 

Cara softens, cupping his jaw. “No. It, won't be to me. Not if it’s you.” 

The smile she gets and the way he nuzzles her hand is sweet enough she wants to seal it up and save the moment. Their foreheads meet, something gentle.

But the thing is, water is dripping down the spirals of his hair onto his face, so she can’t tell if he’s crying or not. All she can do is pull him closer, closer, closer, holding his hand and connecting them fully.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you all enjoyed! comments and kudos are always appreciated.


End file.
